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Enrollment Policies

Enrollment Policies and Administrative Guidelines

Student Course Selection

You have the flexibility to choose the VHS courses in which your students enroll, and which students will be allowed to take VHS courses. Some schools open the entire VHS catalog to any student wishing to take a course. Others have a rigorous application process for students enrolling in VHS classes. The choice is yours. Just be sure to keep in mind the following policies and guidelines when making your decision.

Student Add Period and Academic Schedule

Students and instructors participating in VHS courses follow the VHS academic calendar. Students enrolling in VHS fall, spring, or full-year courses may be enrolled in courses through the last day of the VHS add period. The VHS add period ends one week after the semester start dates in both fall and spring. Both fall and full-year courses follow the fall add period.

Refunds

Individual tuition students, summer school students, and educators taking VHS professional development courses, who officially withdraw from their courses through notification to VHS may receive a refund of tuition according to the following schedule:

A full refund will be granted prior to the start of class.

75% tuition refund will be granted if the withdrawal from the course occurs during the first week of the course.

No tuition refund will be granted after the first week of the course.

Tuition refunds are not granted for unused seats purchased in membership bundles.

Online Course Credit

Participating schools grant students credit for taking VHS courses. VHS courses should receive the same credit and be listed on the student transcript in the same way as any other course offered at the school. VHS gives 0.5 credits for semester courses and 1.0 credits for full-year courses. Participating schools translate VHS credit into the appropriate local school credit.

Transcripts

Individual tuition and summer school students receive a VHS transcript at the end of the course. A transcript is also sent to the student's school. Professional development participants receive a certificate of completion at the end of each course, listing the number of professional development hours completed. Students taking courses through VHS member schools receive grades on their local school transcripts as reported by their VHS site coordinator. Site coordinators have the option to print a transcript for their students from the VHS faculty web site.

Online Course Levels

All VHS Online Courses are categorized as Standard, Honors, or Advanced Placement level, and the level of each course is indicated in the course catalog. The VHS catalog also contains prerequisite skills and course grade level. Site coordinators and students should review course level, grade level, and perquisites closely prior to enrolling in any VHS course, to ensure course requirements are met.

Instructional Materials

Texts and instructional materials for each online course and the costs of these materials are the responsibilities of the school offering the course. Once course registration is finalized, the site coordinator of the school offering the course will mail any physical materials required to the site coordinator of each student attending the course. Each school site coordinator will have responsibility for distributing materials to enrolled students and for returning materials for students who have withdrawn. The schools receiving these materials are accountable for return postage, as well as any loss or damage to these materials, and their students will be held accountable for any loss or damage in the same manner they are held accountable for any other school materials.

Nondiscrimination

All schools enrolling students in The Virtual High School must be in compliance with all Federal Civil Rights legislation. Title VI of the Civil Right Act of 1964 protects individuals from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ensures that no person shall, on the basis of gender, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination in any federally-assisted program. In addition, state civil rights legislation also applies to VHS courses. Compliance with all civil rights legislation will be the responsibility of each school, and complaints should be filed with each school and should follow the school's grievance procedure.

Staffing Requirements for Full Participation

Fully participating schools provide an online course instructor and a school site coordinator and pay an annual membership fee to enroll students in The Virtual High School. Online course instructors should be free for the equivalent of 20% of their full time work week (.2 FTE) to teach their course. We strongly recommend that the school free a regular full-time teacher from one period of teaching duties to meet this requirement. If a teacher cannot be freed from one period of teaching duties, a stipend may be offered to the teacher as an alternative. Schools may use their VHS seats in any VHS course, assuming the course has openings and the student meets the course prerequisites. Schools may distribute these seats as they see fit. For example, the same student taking two different courses in one semester uses two VHS seats.

Staffing Requirements for Student-Only Participation

Schools may elect to enroll students in The Virtual High School without sponsoring a VHS course. In addition to paying the membership fee, student-only schools provide a VHS site coordinator. The site coordinator is responsible for coordinating VHS efforts within the school and is the primary contact with VHS Administration.